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Police deserve praise in protecting lives

Posted
Monday, April 1, 2019 11:35 am

Do you recall the last time you heard about a standoff between a suspected criminal and police?

Just last week, three people died after a 15-hour standoff at a New Hampshire hotel after two of those people barricaded themselves in a room and shot repeatedly at law enforcement officers, according to the Associated Press.

The Cookeville Police chief has noted that it's these headlines that often make the news, while the regular, old-fashioned work our police officers do on a daily basis goes unnoticed.

That may be true, but we did notice at the same time a deadly shooting was happening a thousand miles away, Cookeville law enforcement officers, firefighters and emergency responders worked together to achieve a much different outcome to a dangerous situation.

Thursday morning, someone called police to report that a man was threatening to harm himself and his juvenile son. Police responded, and after they were unable to negotiate with the man, broke into the home and rescued the boy, who was reportedly physically unharmed in the incident.

The father was arrested and taken to the Putnam County Jail.

That story could have ended much differently if it hadn't been for the officers, SWAT team and emergency responders who acted swiftly in the way they've been trained to preserve the lives of not only the innocent but also those suspected of committing crimes.

Fortunately, Cookeville is still small enough that violent crime doesn't seem to happen here as often as it does in larger cities.

We believe it's worth celebrating when everyone is able to walk away from a dangerous situation because of the work of our law enforcement.

Following Thursday's incident, Cookeville Police Capt. Bobby Anderson praised the Putnam County Board of Education, the Cookeville Fire Department, Putnam County Emergency Services and the Tennessee Department of Children's Services for their help, and we'd like to thank them too.

Unless you're doing the work that puts you or your loved one in harm's way everyday, you can't imagine the real danger our law enforcement officers face as part of their jobs.

We're happy to report in this situation that our officers and emergency responders were able to preserve the lives of those involved in Thursday's incident as well as their own.